Urban lifestyle on election day: is he still dreaming of Denver?

Last February 16, in “I Dream of Denver“, David Brooks wrote about places like Seattle, where Americans are drawn, because “they offer the dream, so characteristic on this continent, of having it all: the machine and the garden. The wide-open space and the casual wardrobes”.

I view it as one of the year’s more provocative articles, because Brooks teasingly tested the pedestrian and bicycle premise, and whether cities like ours will really “in short, finally begin to look a little more like Amsterdam.” After all, he said, based on a Pew Research study, “Amsterdam is a wonderful city, but Americans never seem to want to live there. And even now, in this moment of chastening pain, they don’t seem to want the Dutch option”.

Election Day in our region is a good time to remember Brooks’ dream, and to test his premise anew.

(This short essay is borrowed from the new blog myurbanist, which contains several recent musings on similar topics, including a speculative piece on the source of post-election land use vision).